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KULES AND REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO ATTORNEYS PRACTICING 
BEFORE THE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, 1915. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE RULES OF PRACTICE. 
APPOINTMENT. 

17. An applicant or an assignee of the entire interest may prosecute 
his own case, but he is advised, unless familiar with such matters, to 
employ a competent patent attorney, as the value of patents depends 
largely upon the skillful preparation of the specification and claims. 
The Office can not aid in the selection of an attorney. 

A register of attorneys will be kept in this Office, on which will be 
entered the names of all persons entitled to represent applicants before 
the Patent Office in the presentation and prosecution of applications 
for patent. The names of persons in the following classes will, upon 
their written request, be entered upon this register: 

(a) Any attorney at law who is in good standing in any court of 
record in the United States or any of the States or Territories thereof 
and shall furnish a certificate of the clerk of such United States, 
State, or Territorial court, duly authenticated under the seal of the 
court, that he is an attorney in good standing. 

(6) Any person not an attorney at law who is a citizen or resident 
of the United States and who shall file proof to the satisfaction of 
the Commissioner that such person is of good moral character and of 
good repute and possessed of the necessary legal and technical quali- 
fications to enable him to render applicants for patents valuable 
service and is otherwise competent to advise and assist them in the 
presentation and prosecution of their applications before the Patent 
Office. 

(c) Any foreign patent attorney not a resident of the United 
States, who shall file proof to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that 
he is registered and in good standing before the patent office of the 
countr} 7 of which he is a citizen or subject, and is possessed of the 
qualifications stated in paragraph (b). 

(d) Any firm will be registered which shall show that the indi- 
vidual members composing such firm are each and all registered 
under the provisions of the preceding sections. 

The Commissioner may require proof of qualifications other than 
those specified in paragraph (a) and reserves the right to decline to 

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recognize any attorney, agent, or other person applying for registra- 
tion under this rule. 

Any person or firm not registered and not entitled to be recognized, 
under this rule as an attorney or agent to represent applicants gen- 
erally may, upon a showing of circumstances which render it neces- 
sary or justifiable, be recognized by the Commissioner to prosecute as 
attorney or agent certain specified application or applications, bu . 
this limited recognition shall not extend further than the applicatio 
or applications named. 

No person not registered or entitled to recognition as above pre - 
vided will be permitted to prosecute applications before the Pater 
Office. 

POWER OF ATTORNEY TO BE FILED. 

Rule 18. Before any attorney, original or associate, will be allowc 
to inspect papers or take action of any kind, his power of attorm 
must be filed. But general powers given by a principal to an ass 
ciate can not be considered. In each application the written author- 
ization must be filed. 

NAMES OF MEMBERS OF A FIRM MUST BE GIVEN. 

A power of attorney purporting to have been given to a firm or co- 
partnership will not be recognized, either in favor of the firm or of 
any of its members, unless all its members shall be named in su i 
power of attorney. 

SUBSTITUTION AND ASSOCIATION. 

Rule 19. Substitution or association can be made by an attorney 
upon the written authorization of his principal; but such authoriza- 
tion will not empower the second agent to appoint a third. 

REVOCATION. 

Rule 20. Powers of attorney may be revoked at any stage in the 
proceedings of a case upon application to and approval by the Com- 
missioner; and when so revoked the Office will communicate directly 
with the applicant or such other attorney as he may appoint. An 
attorney will be promptly notified by the docket clerk of the revoca- 
tion of his power of attorney. An assignment of an undivided inter- 
est will not operate as a revocation of the power previously given, 
but the assignee of the entire interest may be represented by an 
attorney of his own selection. 

22. (a) Applicants and attorneys will be required to conduct their 
business with the Office with decorum and courtesy. Papers pre- 
sented in violation of this requirement will be returned. But all 







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- such papers will first be submitted to the Commissioner, and only 
returned by his direct order. 

(b) Complaints against Examiners and other officers must be made 
in separate communications, and will be promptly investigated. 

(c) For gross misconduct the Commissioner may refuse to recog- 
nize any person as a patent agent, either generally or in any particu- 
lar case; but the reasons for such refusal will be duly recorded and be 
subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. 

(d) The Secretary of the Interior may, after notice and oppor- 
tunity for a hearing, suspend or exclude from further practice before 
the Patent Office any person, firm, corporation, or association shown 
to be incompetent, disreputable, or who refuses to comply with the 
rules and regulations thereof, or who shall, with intent to defraud, in 

( any manner deceive, mislead, or threaten any claimant or prospective 
I claimant, by word, circular, letter, or by advertisement, or by guar- 
anteeing therein the successful prosecution of any application for 
patent or the procurement of any patent, or which word, circular, 
Uetter, or advertisement shall contain therein any false promise or 
misleading representation. (Sec. 5, act approved July 4, 1884.) 

ACCESS TO PENDING APPLICATIONS. 

Order No. 1271: 

Hereafter no person except the applicant, the assignee whose as- 
signment is of record, or the attorney of record will be permitted to 
have access to the file of any application, except as provided for 
under the interference rules, unless written authority from the appli- 
cant, assignee, or attorney, identifying the application to be in- 
spected, is filed in the case to become a part of the record thereof, or 
upon the written order of the Commissioner, which will also become 
a part of the record of the case. — [O. G., April 4, 1899.] 



WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE I 1915 



LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 



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